The Taste of Summer: What Says "Summer" to You?

The first strawberries? A simple gin and tonic on the porch? Clambakes on the beach? What is the one food that for you signals that summer has officially arrived?

For us, the taste of summer has got to be basil. We literally lean over the cutting board and inhale its aroma in deep breaths as we chop. All summer long, we add ribbons of basil to everything from salads and pasta dishes to bruschetta and fresh cocktails. Cooking with summer basil is not quite like cooking with basil any other time of the year.

Second to this would be grilling - anything grilled! Again, it's the smell of the barbecue that does it for us first, but this is quickly followed by that signature smoky flavor and crunchiness that can only come from cooking over a high-heat open flame grill.

What about you?

(Image: Flickr member bensonkua licensed under Creative Commons)

Comments (17)

The first bbq chicken of the season on the grill. Except it's usually still 50 degrees outside! But then it's more of the promise of good weather to come. Then picking stuff from the garden, sipping a Harpoon UFO, throwing open the windows & hearing the lawnmowers going... all the senses go into overload mode!

posted by tallsarah on June 22nd 2009 at 9:09am
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Over the weekend I made tomato/basil/mozzarella/bread salad. That screams summer to me!

Also, fresh corn, BBQ, lemonade and watermelon.

posted by orchidgirl1979 on June 22nd 2009 at 9:20am
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Biting into a fresh tomato, straight of the vine!

posted by Zo Paige on June 22nd 2009 at 9:26am
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Strawberries, tomatoes and corn..all from local produce stands by the side of the highway.

posted by Kelseyjean85 on June 22nd 2009 at 9:43am
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BC Cherries!

posted by gleam on June 22nd 2009 at 9:44am
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The smell and taste of ripe strawberries from the farmer's market, or better yet those tiny ones you sometimes come across in home gardens.

posted by HurryUpTheCakes on June 22nd 2009 at 9:55am
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Berries. everywhere, all the time, delicious, local, bursting of sweetness berries!

posted by Marie-Eve on June 22nd 2009 at 9:55am
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Fresh cut grass and watermelon, the scent on left on my hands after touching tomato stems, the surprisingly delicious odor of last seasons's drippings burning off the grill, the faintly starchy sweetness of late-summer corn.

Oh, and home-grown tomatoes.

Summer > Winter

posted by manjar on June 22nd 2009 at 10:09am
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Strawberries and the smell of jam simmering on the stove. Peaches so ripe you can smell them from 10 feet away. The smell of hot, dusty pine trees and the sound of cicadas.

I miss real summer. As cold as it is, San Francisco's just doesn't measure up and although I can't say I actually miss it being 90 for weeks at a time eating corn on the cob in two sweaters and heavy jeans just feels wrong.

posted by Tiamat_the_Red on June 22nd 2009 at 10:36am
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Ratatouille, when all the ingredients are from the farmers market. I make vast batches of it.

posted by cmcinnyc on June 22nd 2009 at 11:05am
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Fresh corn and grilled foods, especially chicken parts. Strawberries. Tomatoes and basil. Mmm, summer!

posted by Emily G. on June 22nd 2009 at 11:28am
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Berries, berries, berries.

posted by heather77 on June 22nd 2009 at 11:30am
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Anything BBQ'd and pie, oh, the pie!

posted by kitchengraffiti on June 22nd 2009 at 1:46pm
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Corn on the cob, zuchinni!

posted by mdevans on June 22nd 2009 at 2:49pm
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Fresh cherries! Cherries, cherries, cherries! They're always in season when my birthday rolls around, so they get me doubly excited! :D

http://www.abreadaday.com

posted by eprewitt on June 22nd 2009 at 4:22pm
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I would have to say tomatoes but they aren't in season yet in Northern California so it would have to be the arrival of the first stone fruits.

posted by rosebud on June 22nd 2009 at 9:53pm
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Iced tea, a really rosy glow in my kitchen because of my wonderful leather-tinted windows, fresh corn. I love to say "fresh," because I am sick of the frozen corn they bring out from the back of the huge grocery stores. I love the smell of fresh donuts from the farmer's market. I love cantaloupe and watermelon, but I have not been pleased with this year's yield thus far. So I guess I am going to have to say iced tea. I don't eat a lot of barbecued chicken, but that smell is simply divine.

I did just think of a really great dessert. Homemade angel food cake. If you have never had homemade angel food cake, then you must try it. It is not an easy fast recipe. They are more work than most people think they are worth, but an angel food cake, homemade whipped cream, and maraschino cherries is so summery. Oh, yeah, and popsicles and old movies.

posted by mamaspank on June 23rd 2009 at 9:27pm
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